Chickens and coyotes and mama bears, oh my!

At no point when I started this blog did I dream I'd be writing multiple posts about a chicken who is entertaining and infuriating all at the same time. And yet, here we are. The good news -- she has discovered the little bowls I put around for her with her favorite treat -- mealworms. She's not as fond of the gourmet chicken feed, but if she prefers scratching for grubs and other insect delicacies, who am I to judge? Even better news, she is back to laying an egg a day in the nest we discovered a week ago, so at least I feel somewhat rewarded for all the emotional labor I've been expending on her.

Today, however, was the day I've been dreading and worrying about since she came to us. I was happily grooming Sassy (our daily ritual mostly to keep her goopy face as clean as possible and prevent her hair from matting), when I heard Ninja loudly and vehemently protesting. Then I saw a white streak followed by a brown streak. You guessed it, a coyote. I opened the door, stepped out and yelled in my best mama bear voice, "you get out of here!" Fortunately the coyote was more afraid of me than the allure of Ninja in flight, and skedaddled rapidly down the street. 

While I was fairly certain the coyote hadn't laid tooth or paw on Ninja, and I didn't want to stress her further by tracking her down, I did go out after a bit and found her sitting on her nest. Rather than freak her out, I quietly stole away and let her decompress. 

Later in the evening, she was strutting around as usual and avoiding me as usual and acting like the crazy chicken she is -- as usual. If only she would agree to hang in the backyard, there would be no coyote encounters and she could do whatever she wants in relative safety. But no...she has her own thoughts on the matter. 

And now for something completely different....

When not obsessing about Ninja's welfare, I do have other projects. They are not glamorous, but necessary. Cleaning out the garage has been the big project and I think another week (or two), should see it completely whipped into shape. Once I can get to my workbench and  know where all my tools are, more exiting projects like mosaics and garden sculptures can commence. 

Lest you think that the garage is the only dirty job, guess again. I've also tackled painting the back porch overhang. It started with simply wanting to paint the two massive pillars that hold the whole shebang up. They are exposed to extreme sun and rain and were so weathered, peeling, and nasty looking that I could ignore them no longer. Scraping, sanding, washing down and three coats of brilliant white paint later, they looked wonderful. Unfortunately, that meant the rest of the structure looked awful. So, you're right, I couldn't ignore that and I started painting the main cross beam. That has led to now trying to get to the rest. The problem (isn't there always a problem), there are obstacles in way of reaching all the bits that need work. I'm at the point where I'm just going to have to be satisfied with what I can reach and not think too hard about the bits I can't get to--yet. When it's time to tile the back wall, then I'll be able to finish it off.

And to change things up even further, I spend at least two hours a day weeding the garden. Exciting stuff.